A Girl's Place
by voicelord
Summary: As denial leads to frustration, frustration eventually leads to conflict. A certain pony-tailed girl admits her feelings of jealousy. Can this eventually lead to the realisation of affection towards a certain childhood friend? Heiji x Kazuha


**A girl's place**

Another soft sigh escaped her lips as she searched for her best friend.

Her hand reached for her ponytail, gently tugging it as if to keep her occupied from a certain predicament. Her half-closed eyes scanned the area, searching for a certain person who was supposed to meet her about 30 minutes ago.

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the cool breeze kept the temperature moderate and yet, Kazuha Toyama was far from being content.

Mumbling under her breath, she slowly clenched and unclenched her hands as if to punch the next person who bumped into her by 'accident'.

It was as if the whole world was trying to deliberately provoke her. Her frustration increased immensely as the soft music indicated a call through her mobile phone.

The caller's ID triggered a sharp sensation of utter annoyance.

With her teeth clenching painfully together, she desperately tried to keep her voice to a minimum low. _Patience Kazuha, patience._

"Where the heck are you, Ran Mouri?" she answered dangerously.

Her silent screams of frustration were however, cut short by the glorious invention called 'excuses.'

But she had to admit that there was nothing she could do about it as the excuses actually made sense and seemed logical enough. With a defeated sigh, she faked her assurance with a pained expression upon her face.

Another friendly get-together with Ran gone horribly wrong...

"Don't worry about it I mean, I won't be leaving for Osaka until next week," the gradual build up in tension indicated the probable creation of a migraine. "We have plenty of time. You just go and have fun with Kudo-kun."

Rubbing her temple in sheer frustration, the impatient teenager practically gritted out her next sentence.

"...Okay, see you later."

And the phone was harshly thrown to the concrete ground.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I mean who does she think she is?" Her shrills bounced off the walls, promising trouble.

"I really like Ran, I really do. But at times like this I really want to strangle her and dump her on the main high way naked!"

With an amused look on his face, Heiji Hattori watched his friend of many years stuff her face with all different kinds of food that may have an enormous affect on his monthly pocket money.

He knew his wallet would be _a lot_ lighter than it had previously been.

Up to now, he had never realized that the fork and the knife were the most deadliest weapons ever invented in the history of mankind, as each slice meant more money would be forcefully taken away from him.

Having a girl for a best friend definitely had its bad points.

"Seems like you're jealous," he sighed as he watched another waiter trying to get a furious Kazuha to order dessert.

As if stating a well-known fact, his face illustrated no signs of sarcasm as he slowly picked the remaining of a severely butchered steak to satisfy his empty stomach. As his fork pierced into the main course, emerald eyes shot up with a stunned expression on her face. Her cheeks turning a bright scarlet red as she madly waved her hands gesturing feelings of surprise and pure denial.

"Why in the world would I be jealous of Ran? This is absurd! Kudo-kun is her boyfriend and she has every right to spend time with him." _Here we go again_... "Are you saying that I'm the type of person who would steal her best friend's boyfriend? Are you insane?" Patiently waiting through the entire content narrated by his hot-headed best friend, the infamous Detective of the West ended her tirade with a swift conclusion.

"I never said you were jealous of Ran. I think you are jealous of Shinichi," he countered just as easily.

His lazy expression changed to that of pure amusement as he witnessed the sudden transformation from anger to utter confusion.

With a surprised look on her face, Kazuha allowed her eyes to roam over his as if searching for a reasonable explanation. A smirk spread through his face as if mocking her naivety and her _adorable_ clueless quality.

Yep, having a girl for a best friend definitely had its bad points.

...But to Heiji Hattori, the good points were endless.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Gomen nasai! I am so sorry Kazuha-chan! I promise I will make up for yesterday!"

With her hands glued together and begging for her friend's forgiveness and mercy, Mouri Ran hoped for a painless death.

But Instead, she encountered a very understanding and a confused looking Kazuha. Deciding not to pursue her friend's sudden change in disposition, they awkwardly headed towards the clothes store; both girls filled with entirely different emotions.

As the afternoon passed on, they had talked, joked, laughed and teased each other as if nothing had happened the previous day.

As they skipped along to their third store, the loud melodies forced Ran to answer her call as Kazuha patiently waited beside her.

The bubbly voice of Ran echoed inside the department store, instantly becoming dissolved within the noise of the large crowd of Tokyo.

As seconds turned to minutes, her voice suddenly dropped into one of desperation as the call came to an end. Her eyes were clouded with unspoken tears in an instant.

"It's Shinichi, he cancelled our date tonight," she mumbled quietly.

Without another word, Ran Mouri quickened her pace to the bench, oblivious towards Kazuha's presence as if she was consumed in her own world of sadness.

Very much used to the ups-and-downs of her long-haired friend when it came to her boyfriend, the emerald-eyed teenager quietly trailed after the depressed female.

"It's so unfair. He promised he would take me to that new restaurant." A sniffle and a quick sob... "I'm sorry but I don't want to shop anymore Kazuha. I'm not in the mood."

But as soon as the last sentence escaped the lips of a sulking Ran, Kazuha's anger reached its highest peak as her suppressed fury exploded within a matter of seconds.

"It's **always** about Kudo-kun! It's like I don't exist!" Kazuha spat out. "You cancel our meetings if it has anything to do with _him_. I never knew you were so self-centered!"

By this time, Kazuha was pretty sure the entire department store could hear her outburst.

"Have you actually thought about how I felt whenever you ditched me for your boyfriend?" Huffing and puffing, an extremely red-faced Kazuha promptly turned around to leave her tear-stricken friend.

"Isn't it human courtesy to actually keep the appointments you made first? Learn to prioritize, Ran Mouri!"

* * *

"Can you believe her? I mean, she practically ruined my day as soon as her boyfriend cancelled their date! Who does she think she is?"

The dark-skinned teenage detective eyed his best friend sympathetically as she continued letting out her stress through the intake of food.

The aroma of anger suddenly died down as the forceful release of the knife and fork made sudden contact with the delicate plate.

Small tear droplets gently glided down onto the table as Kazuha let out a small whimper.

"...It's not like Kudo-kun has a monopoly over her," she spoke slowly.

"I know."

"S-She's one of my best friends," her voice trembled slightly.

"I know."

"I want to spend time with her too, you know?"

"I know."

"...I really am jealous of Kudo-kun, aren't I?"

Without another word, Heiji gently tugged the crying girl into his arms, not answering her final question.

Cradled in his warm embrace, Kazuha once again found comfort within the arms of her childhood friend.

Not holding back the tears of regret and bitterness, she silently cursed herself for being harsh towards one of her best friends.

...And for being stupid to not notice her true feelings of jealousy.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The young woman impatiently lingered back and forth in front of the famous apartment of the Mouri residence.

The distress could be clearly seen from her eyes as she contemplated the possible solutions to her problems. The choices had been lessened to three solutions;

Number 1: Actually go up to the apartment and knock on the door.

Number 2: Act innocent and walk away from your troubles.

Number 3: Beat the crap out of Heiji Hattori for forcing her to do this.

As she continued to consider the three different choices, the last one seemed like the most logical, as her brain tried to process the different consequences that these choices would bring. As her imagination, once again, helped her picture a mental vision of Heiji lying crippled on the floor covered in his own blood, she felt a soft tap on her left shoulder, forcing her to return back to the cold and harsh reality.

"Ran!" Kazuha exclaimed.

Before she could do anything ranging from panicking to simply running away, the long-haired friend pushed a small package into the hands of the bewildered Kazuha.

With a questioning look on her face, she slowly opened the package, revealing a gorgeous summer dress that they had planned on buying that day.

"It's a gift from both me and Shinichi. We picked it up yesterday for you, after the shopping incident," Ran whispered apologetically.

Before the stunned girl could say anything, Ran beat her to it by continuing on with the apology.

"I'm really sorry Kazuha. I can't apologize enough to make up for all the times I completely ditched you."

Hesitation was evident in her manner of speech, but she continued forth; determined to clear the air.

"Both Shinichi and I felt really guilty when we talked about it last night. We were both being really selfish and only thinking about ourselves." The final sentence was whispered in a sincere tone. "I'm really sorry. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

And gradually, Kazuha allowed a huge smile to plaster across her face.

"...No, you and Shinichi had been away from each other for such a long time. I should have been more considerate." An equally quiet response was presented out into the open.

"I'm sorry too for yelling at you and not being as understanding as I should have been."

As the soft apologies slowly began to diminish, the conversation eventually flowed back to how it always had been between these two best friends.

They chuckled and laughed at their stupidity and giggled about the whole situation as they calmly walked to an unknown destination.

"I never knew that my whining had such effect on you, Kazuha. I'm really sorry. It's just that I want to tell you everything because I like you and you're my best friend."

"It just feels like I can tell you everything."Realization slowly hit Kazuha as she allowed the words to sink in.

A wistful grin automatically followed as the emerald-eyed female recognized the similar situation to her friend's predicament.

Hadn't she also been a whiny brat to a certain dark-skinned detective? Hadn't she confided in him whenever something went wrong, never thinking about how _he_ might have felt?

"I think I know how you feel. I've been doing the exact same thing to someone else as well. Someone who now I realize is very special to me."

* * *

"I see that you're not stuffing your face with food today."

With an almost surprised look on his face, Heiji took a seat across his best friend, who seemed to have a mischievous smile lingering upon her face.

He eyed her suspiciously as she slowly leaned against the back of her hands, her face drawing dangerously close to his.

The menu completely forgotten in his hand at the sudden dryness of his throat, Heiji desperately tried to ignore the sudden irregularity in his pulse.

But his world would never be the same as the short two sentences flowed out of her supple lips.

"I like you. I think I really like you."


End file.
